How sweet it is for the Gators

7:52 AM,
Mar. 25, 2013

Florida's Patric Young, center, pulls down a rebound against Minnesota's Elliott Eliason (55) during the second half of Sunday's third-round game of the NCAA Tournament in Austin, Texas. Florida won 78-64.

Written by

David Jones
| FLORIDA TODAY

Florida went more five minutes without a field goal in the second half and watched a 21-point halftime lead dwindle to seven points.

The Gators (28-7), the No. 3 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament, had become known for struggling away from the O'Connell Center to hold leads. But this time, they had the clutch efforts teams that fight off a charge need.

With top scorer Erik Murphy on the bench with four fouls, 58 percent free-throw shooter Will Yeguete, a Florida Air Academy graduate, hit four of five foul shots, got a basket inside to spark a 12-4 run and UF's outside shooters hit clutch ...